Load-ejecting apparatus for conveyers



June3, 1930. H. M. RUTH 1,760,964

LOAD EJECTING APPARATUS FOR CONVEYERS Filed June 6, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 3, 1930. H. M. RUTH 1,760,964

LOAD EJECTING APPARATUS FOR CONVEYERS Filed June 6. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 awn me fiwazo 4/ @m Patented June a, 1930 PATENT .ol FlcE nAnoLn M. RUTH; on HUNTINGTON PARKXCALI'FORNIA;

' v LoAD-EJno'rmeArrnnArUs non coNvEYEns Application filed. .Tune 6,

My invention relates generally to conveylng machinery such asdredgers',excavators, elevators, loaders, trenchers, and convey ers of the character having buckets or scoops.

in which loads of material are adapted'to be transported from one place to another, and it is a purpose of my invention to providean ap paratus of simple and rugged construction by which loads of material in the buckets can be positively ejected or discharged therefrom automatically and with theutmost ease. and effectiveness so that the buckets will be completely emptied of the material and will'again be ready for subsequent filling thereof with other material to be't-ransported. v I It is a further purpose of my invention to provide a load ejecting apparatus which in its association with a conveyer or other form of conveying machinery embodying bucket 2 carrying endless chains orbelts, is wholly independent thereof sothat conventional'forms of buckets and chains can be employed without modification of the construction thereof, and yet loads of material positively and automatically ejected from thebucketsrwit-h the utmost'ease and dispatch at apredetermined point in the travel of. th'ebuckets.

I will describe only one" formof load ing apparatus 'for conveyers embodying my invention and will'then point out-the novel features in'claims," I 1 v In the accompanying drawing v Fi 1 is a view showing in side elevation a conventional typeof excavator with one form of load ejecting apparatus embodying my invention, applied thereto;

Fig.2 is an enlarged fragmentary View in side elevation, of a portion of the excavator shown in Fig. 1, and illustrating the load ejecting apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3'3 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 4 is a-diagrammatlc v'iewlillustrating a number of corresponding positions occupied by a bucket of the excavator and anej'ec- ,tor member embodying my invention, during its operation of ejecting a load of material from the bucket. .7 Referring specifically to the drawing in wh ch s m arreference characters d igna eject 1928. Serial -No. asasm' similar parts in'eachof the several views, my invention-in its present embodiment is shown for the purpose of illustration only, applied to a conventional form of excavator including a suitable frame F on which is rotatably mounted a plurality of idler sprockets 10, 11, and 12, there being two of each (only one being shown) arranged in pairs inside I by side spaced relation on shafts 13, 1 1 and, 15' respectively, journaled in the lower end of the frame F as shown.

J Other sprockets 16 and 17, also twoof each (only one sprocket 16 being shown) arranged in pairs in side by side spaced relation are fixedrespectively to shafts'18-and 19 journaled in the upper end of the frame asshownr About-the sprockets above described are adapted to be trained endless chains, desig nat'e'd at C and C, and secured to the chains between the latterat suitable equally spaced intervals are buckets B of the scoop type.

The pair of sprockets 16 constitute driving sprockets',andtheir shaft 18 is adapted to be driven from a suitable source of power (not shownyto drive the chainsC and C in the direction of the arrows, Figs. 1 and 2, totheend that with the frame F suitably supported in theposition shownin Fig. 1, the buckets Q B"will successively scoop up material from the excavation illustratedin this figure and 'Will elevate the material from the excavation.

The general arrangement of excavator above described'is well known in the art, andit is therefore believed that further detailed description and illustration thereof will be unnecessary as it'forms no part of my present invention. l

For the purpose of positively ejecting from' v nated generally at A, in such manner that the ejector members E are caused to enter and eject from the buckets B the loads of material elevated thereby.

In the present instance three ejector members E are shown, and all are of identical construction. Each of the ejector members comprises a rectangular metal plate 20 secured by rivets 2i to a pair of brackets 22 having sleeves through which extends a shaft 2%, to which the sleeves are-secured by means of keys 25, to the end that the members will be lined to the shaft. T he shaft 01 each of the ejector members is of suliicient length to span the pair of sprockets 17 and is j'ournaled its ends in bearings 26 formed integral with the sprockets, the arrangement -o1thelsha-tts of the three ejector members withrespect to the sprockets being such that the ejector members are pi-votally mounted on the sprockets at equally spaced intervals circumlerentially of the sprockets and adjacent their peripheries as is clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The actuating means A for the ejector 1nen1- bers comprises in the present instance a cam 2-7 having a hub 28 in which'one end of the shaft 19 is journaled, and a peripheral cam surface '29 otthe contour shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the hub 28 of the cam being secured by bolts 30 to the frame F, to the end that the 1 n. l e. .c 1 cam will be hired against moyeinent and will be disposed at the outer side of one of the pair of sprockets 17. To one end of each of the shafts 2% is secured an arm 31 having journaled thereon its free end a roller 32 constantly urged into engagement with the peripheral cam surface 29 of the cam 28 by a spring 33 connected at one end to the arm 31 and at its other end to one of the pair of sprockets 17, to theend that the ejector members E will be constantly urged to rockin one direction about their axes by the springs 33 and are adapted to positively be rocked in the reverse direction about their axes by the cam 28, in response to rotation or" the sprockets 17.

The operation of the load ejecting apparatusis-as follows: 7 V

Assuming that the shaft 18 is b ing driven in the direction to drive the chains C and C and hence the bucketsl-l carried thereby, in the direc on oi the arrows (Figs. 2 and a), the relative spacine" oi the buckets and ejector members and their timed relation as well as e contour of the peripheralcam surface 29, issuch that as eachloaded bucket approaches the pair of sprockets 17 an ejector member E will be actuated by the cam to cause the torwardedge' Set of its plate 20 to enter the bucket and move'downwardly along its rear wall 35 behind the load of material, as the bucket advances, (see corresponding positions of the bucket and plate 20, numbered 1,2, 3,4, and 5 in Fig. 4:) to thus scrape the material from the rear wall, the plate entering the bucket at a night angle to the rear wall so as to act as a wedge to shift the load of material forwardly in the bucket andthus loosen the material from the sides 36 and bottom 37 of the bucket. In this connection it will be noted that the sides and bottom of each bucket flare outwardly from its rear wall 35 so that once the material in the bucket has been shifted forwardly by the plate 20, the material will positively be loosened and its subsequent ejection greatly facilitated.

As the sprockets l'l'continue to rotate and he bucket to advance in timed relation thereto, the cam 28 will rock the member to cause its plate 20 to sweep forwardly through the bucket as shown by corresponding positions of the bucket and plate, numbered 6 to: 10 inclusive in Fig. 4-, so as to positively eject the loosened load of'mat-erial from the bucket, the mat rial being completely ejected from the bucket while the latter is still occupying a downwardly and forwardly inclined position so as toutilize the force of gravity to aid in discharging the load of material from the bucket.

As the movement of the unloaded bucket continues around the pair of sprockets 17, the contour of the cam 28 is such as to permit the spring 33 of the particular ejector memberwhich ejected the load of material from the bucket, to restore theejector member to position to enter the third succeeding bucket as it approaches the sprockets 17 and eject the load oi material therefrom in the mann r above described. As each bucket appreaches the pairof sprockets 17, the load of material therein is positively ejected therefrom by one of the ejector members, so that thebuckets will be emptied in successive order-for subsequent filling upon their return to the excavation. It will be noted that the relation of the pair of driving sprockets 16 to the pair of sprockets 17 is such, that as a bucket approaches the latter sprockets, it moves towards the plateQO of the particular ejector member which is to eject the load of material from the bucket, as the plate enters the bucket behind the load of material therein, so that the initialwedging action of the plate in loosening the material from the bucket is greatly expedited.

It will be mfanifest that my load ejecting apparatus is entirely physically independent of the chains C and C and the buckets B carried thereby so that modificationor complication of these parts to accommodate a load ejecting means is rendered unnecessary, thus permitting my load ejecting apparatus to be embodied in conventional chain and bucket construction, itbeing appreciated that the only modification of a conveyor necessary in order to apply my 'mventionthereto, is in providing newsprockets 17 within-y ejector members E mounted thereon, and in providing a suitable fixed support for the cam 28.

Although I have herein shown and deall) scribed only one form of load ejecting ap paratus for conveyers embodying my invention it 1s to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein Without departing :E-romthe spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising an ejector member, means for mounting the member independently. of a conveyer bucket having a bottom wall, arear wall and an open top and front, and a cam for actuating the member and having a contour such that during movement of the conveyer, the member will be caused to enter the open top of the bucket substantially edge- Wise and move towards the bottom wall of the bucket between the rear wall thereof and a load of material therein, and to'then eject the material forwardly from the bucket through its open front.

2. Load ejecting apparatus comprising a rotary element, an ejector member mounted on the rotary element for movement there- With and for movement independently of the rotary element, and a fixed cam for actuating the member during rotation of the rotary element, andbeing of a contour such as to 'move the member independently of the rotary element in such manner that the member is adapted to enter the open top of a bucket 7 between the rear wall of thelatter and a load of material therein and eject the material from the bucket.

Signed at Los Angeles in the county of Los" Angeles and State of California this 23d day of May, A. D. 1928; p

. HAROLD M. RUTH. 

